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When Martin Grace enters the hip Philadelphia coffee shop Cornelia Brown manages, her life changes forever. But little does she know that her newfound love is only the harbinger of greater changes to come. Meanwhile, across town, Clare Hobbs—eleven years old and abandoned by her erratic... read more

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Cornelia Brown works at a coffee shop in Philadelphia. One day, a man, Martin Grace, walks into the shop, and the two have an ease with each other that draws them together. They begin to date. Eventually, Cornelia discovers that Martin has a daughter, Clare, with whom he has little to no... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cornelia Brown works at a coffee shop in Philadelphia. One day, a man, Martin Grace, walks into the shop, and the two have an ease with each other that draws them together. They begin to date. Eventually, Cornelia discovers that Martin has a daughter, Clare, with whom he has little to no relationship. Clare and Martin show up at the coffee shop when Clare is in crisis, and Martin needs Cornelia's help. Cornelia bonds with the girl immediately and puts her life on hold to help this girl who needs her so much.

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • ““…my hand tucked into the crook of his arm in a way that cried out for me to be in pearl-buttoned, wrist-length gloves; and then, in the foyer of my apartment building, we filled five minutes with kisses so delicate, so intimate and gentle that, afterward, I walked up the stairs to my apartment, carrying the moment carefully as though it were a glass globe full of butterflies.””
    Cornelia
  • ““But the atmosphere Teo and Cornelia carried around with them was playful, affectionate and what else? Accepting. When Clare entered this atmosphere, she felt free, as though what she thought and said were just fine.””
    Clare
  • ““Childhood happiness means car rides, sleepy ones, in the backseat with hazy, golden light pouring in or hazy silver light, depending on the hour, leaning against Olly or Toby or Cam, music on the radio, the sound of our parents talking, and always our parents, there, up front, capable, keeping watch, protecting us with a boundless benevolence, carrying all of us down the right road.””
  • “It didn't make sense to feel more alone after this conversation, she thought. It wasn't like she'd lost something, because there was never anything to lose. But she felt more alone anyway.”
    Clare
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • There’s a kind of holiness to love, requited or not, and those people who don’t receive it with gratitude are arrogant beyond saving.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
  • I’d figured out that a real life didn’t mean attaining my heart’s desire, but knowing it, meant not the satisfaction, but the longing. Knowing what you love and why, I found out, is as real as it gets.
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • A real life doesn’t mean getting what you want; the achievement, the privilege, too, is knowing what you love. But getting what you love? Having what you love love you back? Oh, my friend, it’s miracle: your one tiny life’s head-on collision with divinity.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • “Oh, my gosh,” and recognize that of all the balls there ever were, this is the one you should not drop. It’s not a question of choice.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • Happiness isn’t what happens when you whistle along, pretending bad things don’t exist.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • What she came to was that even if someone wasn’t perfect or even especially good, you couldn’t dismiss the love they felt. Love was always love; it had a rightness all its own, even if the person feeling the love was full of wrongness.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • There are people whose deaths make you ache with sadness. And then there are people whose deaths prevent the sun from rising, deaths that turn the walls black in every room you walk through, deaths that send storm clouds and a wail swirling through your head so that you can’t hear music and you can’t recognize your furniture or your own face in the mirror.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • it isn’t always easy to figure out what you love. You’d think it would be, but it isn’t. Also, if you stay in it for any length of time, like anyplace else, a café becomes a world.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • At first she was happy because she had decided to be, and then she relaxed into her happiness and just felt it.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • And somehow to Clare, this seemed no less magical than flowers that stayed alive for years, that one woman could so love another woman that she kept doing nice things for her even after she was gone. Like love was a habit you couldn’t break.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
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First Sentence edit see section history

My life-my real life-started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit, and, yes, I know how that sounds.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 2 in Cornelia Brown. (standard series)

Followed by Belong to Me.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Marisa de los Santos (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Dutton, NY
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN: 0525949178
Page Count: 307

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3604.E1228 L68 2006
  • Dewey: 813

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Belong to Me

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